Crate Paper

Holiday Advent Calendar :: Larissa Albernaz

Hello, it's CP Girl Larissa Albernaz here with you today! Wow, how time flies! I just realized that we're in the season to begin preparing projects for Christmas already! For this reason, I thought it perfect to present you a tutorial today that is not only a holiday friendly advent calendar, but also a place in which to put your family "Wish List" and to hang on your wall this upcoming holiday season. Here's a look at the project!

 

Advent Calendar Material List:

• Snow Day Collection - Patterned Papers, Brads, Border Stickers & Chipboard Accents
• Two Canvases (one slightly smaller than the other: 15" x 11"/12" x 7")
• Acrylic Paint (Color of your choice)
• Distress Ink (Ranger)
• 4 Screw Eyes
• Ribbon (For attaching your two canvases)
• Kraft Envelopes (Maya Road) 
• Adhesive
• Scissors
• Paint Brushes
• Hammer
• Alphabet Stickers/Number Tags

 

Separate your supplies and organize them around your work area. Ensure your embellishments are of a far distance from where you'll be painting your canvases. Prep your paint surface with covering and prepare your canvases for painting. 

 

With a large size paint brush, paint your canvases a chosen color. Apply two coats to both your canvases. Allow drying time between each coat. 

 

In a sort of fun and playful fashion, hand-trim various different size rectangles/squares from Crate Paper's Snow Day pattern papers. Distress the edges of each rectangle/square with Ranger Distress Ink using a sponge applicator. These will serve as a base for the building of your calendar! 

 

Now paste your hand-trimmed rectangles and squares to the larger size canvas as I've done above. Note: they don't have to be perfectly aligned. Feel free to re-trim some of your rectangles/squares so that they're of an appropriate size to fit within the confines of your calendar.

 

After you've adhered your rectangles/squares to the canvas, decorate each rectangle/square - adding layers and layers of Snow Day chipboard, stickers, rub-ons and more. Feel free to add border as a part of the calendar's overall design. I tucked a few between some of my rectangles/squares and also, directly on top of them as well. 

 

You can decorate your other canvas a little differently by adding Snow Day pattern papers & envelopes in which to use for storing your family member's wish lists. For securing my envelopes, I used Snow Day's fabric brads as the top anchor - simply insert the brad directly into the metal rimmed hole provided. Decorate the envelopes to your liking!

 

Finally, attach screw eyes to your two canvases as I've done and tie them together with matching ribbon!

 

Well, that's it! Now find a home for your new advent calendar and attach it securely so that it remains a good long while..we still have a few months 'til Christmas. :)

I do hope you've enjoyed the project!  

Hugs,
Larissa

Fun with Gatefolds :: Lori Gentile

Hello! Lori Gentile here with you today to show you a really fun technique: making a gatefold. I mostly use this technique for the cover of mini books, but it can be used any way you choose. Today, I am using it to create a fun invitation to a Vintage Tea Party.

 

Invitation Material List:

• Patterned Paper - Restoration - Refinish, Ruffles and Lace
• Chipboard - Restoration
• Border Stickers - Restoration
• Label Stickers - Restoration
• Ribbon
• Chipboard Album Page (4" x 5" or less than 6" wide)
• Crop-a-Dile
• X-Acto Knife
• Metal Ruler

 

1. Start by measuring your chipboard album page width. You will want to cut a piece of patterned paper to the height and double the width of your album page. In my case, I cut my paper to 4” x 10”

2. Pick a spot on the chipboard page where you want to cut it in half. I like to cut mine off center.

3. Use a metal ruler and an X-acto knife to make your cut. It make take several attempts to get all the way through.

 

4. Adhere the left side of the chipboard page to the backside of the left side of your patterned paper. Be sure to line up the edges.

 

5. Once it is adhered fold it to the right so the crease is directly under the left edge of the cover.

 

6. Fold the right side of the patterned paper to the left until it meets up to the edge of the left cover.

 

7. Adhere the right side of the chipboard page to the top of the right fold.

8. Cut a piece of patterned paper to match the chipboard page dimensions. In my case 4” x 5”.

9. Adhere the patterned paper to the left side of the chipboard page only.

 

10. Unfold the page, flip it to the backside and use an X-acto knife to cut the paper along the outside edge. In my photo I’m cutting off the pink piece of paper.

 

11. Now you can cover the right side of the chipboard page using the piece - just cut away!

 

12. Punch a hole in each cover. Use a ruler to make them even.

13. Fold a knot in one end of two even length of ribbon. Pull the end with no knot up through the inside of each cover.

14. Decorate the inside and the outside as desired.

15. Tie a bow when it's complete and you're done!

This is a great way to use up extra mini book pages. It makes for a bulky card, but one that is greatly appreciated when received. It makes a really fun cover for a mini book, as well.

Thanks for spending time with me today!! I hope you enjoyed the tutorial :)

Tuesday Feature :: September's Second Half

We have whole new set of projects to share with you today from a few of our talented blog readers. It's once again, another round of "Tuesday Feature"! Remember us mentioning that those included as part of our "Tuesday Feature" will automatically be enlisted in a special monthly giveaway? Well, our September winner is scheduled to be announced the end of the month and our gorgeous creations below have been added to the drawing! So, if your project pops up here during one of our "Tuesday Feature" posts (Twice a Month!), you just might win yourself a free, full Crate Paper collection (CHOICE!).

We're already seeking entries for the month of October - your project must fulfill the 70% Crate Paper quota (of any of the CP collections both old and new) and just so you're aware, we're following a theme with next month's "Tuesday Feature"! We're paving the road for Fall here in Utah and we all know what that means, colorful foliage, leaf piles, orchard visits and pumpkins galore! In celebration of the season's arrival, we'd love for you to send us your AUTUMN inspired projects ([email protected]); Layouts, Cards (Yes, CARDS!), Mini Albums, Home Decor, etc. We'll begin sharing our favorite submissions on Tuesday, October 12th. The second showing is scheduled for Tuesday, October 26th. We look forward to seeing what you've done with our collections in correspondence with the ol' Autumn vibe...we're certain it'll be a spectacular showing!

 

 

Our first project to premier today is from Amy Bannon. Her layout's elegant white background gives live to a bright, bold floral bouquet and classic vintage photo done up with Restoration's hand-trimmed doilies and chipboard pieces. 

 

Finally, a two-pager!! We love two-pager's at Crate Paper! It's comes to us from Audrey Yeager and was created on behalf of the kit club, "Scrapbook Circle"! A blended mix of woodgrain and florals is the perfect picturesque setting for a little one in the garden. Very, very cute. 

 

Adeline Ailei mentioned that she's in love, love, love with dear sweet Restoration!! Well, we're in love with this layout Adeline! The additional handmade doilies and realistic flowers frame her daughter's face wonderfully...and the title is a serious eye catcher!

 

It was Lori Marcini's Dad's 80th Birthday Party when she took this lovely photo of her parent's together. Our hearts were moved by this layout because it's so personal and heartfelt. We also thought the softly spoken quilt-like appearance was a nice touch; a square collaboration of our Restoration papers & textured white cardstock.

 

These are simply irresistible!! The varied layers, hand-trimmed paper piecings and misc. odds and ends had us glancing at Juno's layouts over and over again. Check out how she curled the edges of the playing cards to house some of our Restoration chipboard embellishments! So very cool!

 

The simplicity and sophistication of Nicole Martel's layouts caught our attention right away - need we say more?

 

Our very last project is from Julie Campbell! It's a handmade notepad cleverly created from our School Spirit collection!! For convenient storage purposes, she's added magnets to the back of the pad for hanging on the fridge - we so need these around the office!! 

It's officially the end of September's "Tuesday Feature" presentation! Thank-you to all those that continue to inspire us with their personal CP lovelies - we wish you a happy Tuesday and a delightful rest of the week!

Sketch Challenge Winner--September Edition

Goodness! This month's sketch produced some absolutely amazing layouts! I have been fretting over how to pick a winner based on the parameters of innovation and creativity that I specified when I posted the sketch on the 17th. You guys made it really really hard for me. But I have finally decided the way Susan interpreted the wavy line at the bottom of the sketch wins for innovation and creativity. Her folded half flowers worked so very well with her subject matter, the huge claw feet of an "ancient" ruin in Animal Kingdom. They look like painted toenails to me. So unique. And to top it off, I love how she added a "Hidden Mickey" to her layout! It's a Disney page, but done with the Restoration line, it really is elegant.

Congratulations to Susan Stringfellow! Please email your address under the title "Sketch Winner--September" to [email protected] and let us know which collection, "Snow Days" or "School Spirit" you'd prefer and we'll get that out to you soon.

I know getting mentioned after the winning layout is probably not the prize you are hoping for, please know your work is equally inspiring! Here are a few other layouts that caught my eye this month, there were so many beautiful ones! Thanks to all who shared their gorgeous pages with me this month, it's such a treat to read your stories!

Miriam Rahim, her husband encouraged her to complete this sketch, even going so far as printing it out for her and reminding her to submit it. I can see why he wanted her to create, isn't this beautiful?

 

Colleen Boshoff made two layouts this month, a boy one and a girl one! Isn't this so cute? I love how she used the flowers along side the photograph, a great way to frame such a sweet face!

I love how Taj White used the green dominos on this page, she really made them work as an embellishment and not just paper. Very creative!

Kim Holmes used the three little pops of paper to showcase her three boys, I love how that became the focus of the layout.

and finally, we have Karen's layout. I love that she turned the sketch and moved things around to make it work. My favorite part though is the butterflies working instead of a block of paper, what a great way to personalize a sketch!

So I end today's post with a huge thank you to the 30+ scrappers who played along this month. I'm so glad we were able to help remove scrapper's blocks for some of you. Others were able to use the sketch to tell a story they'd been meaning to tell. It always inspired me to see how many different interpretations of the same sketch will happen. Please keep playing along, you never know when something you've done will make me sit up and take notice! Until next month, third Friday (October 15), Emily out.

Lolly Chessie's Famous CP Christmas Trees

 Hey Everyone! My name is Lolly Chessie and I'm thrilled to be sharing my first tutorial here on the Crate Paper blog! One of the projects I did for CP this past Summer CHA was two little trees! I thought it would be fun to share how I made them with you all!

 

What you need:

• Two paper mache tree shapes. The ones I used were 16 and 22 inches tall. I got them at Hobby Lobby and I have seen them at Michaels too! If you can't find them, you could also use Styrofoam cone shapes as well!
• Crate Paper - "Snow Day" collection (two of each for both trees): Melt, Sparkle, Blizzard, Festive, Mittens, Flakes, Candy
• Hot glue gun and 2 large glue sticks
• Green acrylic paint and foam brush (I used Plaid - Folk Art- in #503 "Yellow Cintron" 

 

Lets Get Started!

Start by either cutting the petal shape using the Sizzix - "Flowers, Beauty Bloom" die (found HERE) or if you have SCAL and a Cricut you can use this .svg file found HERE (1 sheet for the larger petals) and HERE (1 sheet for the medium and smaller petals). You will need 96 large, 98 medium and 16 small petals. If you don't have SCAL you can print and trace these shapes on to your papers and cut them out too! 

Just a note: If you use the Sizzix die, your petals will be all the same size and that's totally ok! That's how I did it for the CHA trees!

 

Paint the bottom of your tree shapes with the green paint! I used a foam brush and two coats and they came out nice and opaque!

 

You will want to split the pile of "Mittens" and "Candy" papers into two groups as you will be using both sides of these papers!

 

Wrap each shape around a round pen or sharpie marker to curl the edges! You can do this as you are gluing each piece (no need to curl them all at once)!

 

The curled petal should look something like this!

 

Dab a spot of hot glue on the pointy ends of each petal and....

 

..starting from the bottom, adhere them to the base of your cone shape!

 

Start layering each petal shape around the base and then work your way up the tree shape one row at a time!

 

Just keep in truckin'..curling and gluing!

 

...If things get a little slanted, that's ok! It just adds to the charm of the tree!

 

Almost there!!!

 

I ran out of daylight before I finished the pics for this tutorial but I figured you have the basic idea down on how this is done!

 

When you get to the tip of the tree, wrap a little piece of felt or fabric and glue it to the top and snip it off! That adds a nice finished topper to your cute little tree!

Thanks so much for joining me today! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]!

HUGS,
Lolly

P.S. I would like to dedicate these little trees to the memory of my Great Aunt Mary..she made something exactly like them before I was ever born (using construction paper and glitter). I remember seeing them in her living room at Christmas when I was younger! She had some amazing craft skills! XO's Aunt Mary. 

A Kit Surprise :: My Scrapbook Nook

Quite recently, we received word from those at My Scrapbook Nook kit club that they're hosting our Restoration collection in their September's kit! When we heard the good news, we rushed over to their website to find out what they'd been up to with the collection and sure enough, they're design team presented a host of beautiful creations we couldn't resist sharing here. We've conveniently organized a broad selection of their projects for you to peek at while visiting the Crate Paper blog today. We've credited them accordingly, and would like to kindly thank the team for informing us about the kit!

If you've not yet acquainted yourself with My Scrapbook Nook kit club, this is the perfect opportunity to try out one of their kits! Their September kit is ideally Fall friendly and is filled to the brim with our Restoration collection! What's not to love about that?! 

 

Wendy Mckee :: Butterfly Birthday Card W/Room for a Hidden Message

 

Lady Grace Belarmino :: Always incorporating layers - love her style!

 

Becky Williams :: Another class creation for the Scrapbook Nook

 

Becky Williams :: Restoration with a hint of ribbon and three cute lil' girls

 

Ginger Williams :: A cook in the making!

 

Ginger Williams :: "Gal Pal" layout - you rocked the Pink Ginger!

 

Mahlin Wiggur :: A layout duo from Sweden! Circles & squares are our fave! 

This concludes today's presentation of exquisite projects from My Scrapbook Nook - we'll return tomorrow with a new tutorial from one of our well loved design team members, Lolly Chessie! She'll be showing us how to dress up table friendly Christmas trees, which we just so happened to debut during last CHA's line-up. So many of you fell in love with the trees - this is finally your chance to learn how to make them! Yay! Come check it out!

Have a fabulous day everyone! 

A Coarse on Stitching :: Davinie Fiero

Hi there! Davinie here, to give you some insider tips on my layout creation process.  First, I wanted to do a layout with School Spirit that was not school related.  This color palette and the fun designs are easily transferable to other parts of your life.  For me, because of the shirt I was wearing this particular day, it was extremely easy for me to use this line for a layout about a roller coaster ride my family went on recently:

The patterns, warm color tones, and fun elements were great to work with.

The first tip I wanted to share was about the circular pattern I used in my layout.  To create that, I didn’t get a fancy tool or template.  I simply dug around in my kitchen cupboard and came up with Princess Genevieve, lunch style (I’m sure Superman, or Buzz Lightyear would work equally as well).

 

On the B side of the Ruler paper, I traced the circular pattern on the lower have of the paper.  I then trimmed it out creating the pattern here.

 For this layout I also used a 1.5 inch strip of the A side to the Ruler paper, as well as a 1 inch strip of Chemistry, along with the B side of Homeroom as the base for my layout.  I also added some decorative cardstock strips I had in my stash.

After I adhered these strips and the circle to my layout, it was time to machine stitch them down.  With that I wanted to share a tip or two about machine stitching.  It really isn’t as hard as you think.

 

Instructions for Machine Stitching:

1. You really don’t need a special thread, or a special needle.  But if you do both scrapbooking and fabric sewing with the same machine, use a different needle for each.  Also, if you sew on paper a lot and it goes through adhesive, after time it will gum up your needle so try and avoid that (although it won’t hurt anything really, and I do it all the time)

2. Set your machine to space your stitches fairly far apart (on my Kenmore it’s set between 3 and 4).  The closer your stitches are together, the more likely you are to perforate your paper, and we don’t want that.

3. There is no need to backstitch. The very first time I sewed on paper, my stitches were close together, AND I backstitched out of habit. What a mess that layout was!

4. I've included some photos here of my 4th tip. When you sew on paper, begin with a trail of thread, and when you're finished, leave a trail of thread. In order to avoid unraveling, tearing, etc, I always tie knots in my thread and snip the end. I never have needed to worry about my stitching again. I know some people tape the thread on the back, but this way is a no fuss and requires no additional product. 

 

To tie your thread:

1. Turn your project over, and grasp the thread that is on the back, pulling it gently to lift the last stitch, which is that little loop at the end:

2. Pull that loop out. All of your stitches are still in place. You will not be creating a space in your stitched row by pulling this thread through.

 

3. Tie a knot in your two pieces of thread and trim. 

Voila! You stitched a row and made your thread secure.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the techniques I have shared.  Here’s the layout in further detail:

One last note regarding the title on this layout:  I have been using curved titles a lot on my work recently.  What I have found is that the best way to make them look clean and uniform is to keep the letter perpendicular to the circle you have made, whether it be the circle paper I used here, or a traced line you are following.  Otherwise you will have one letter “leaning” too much, and another needing to lean a bit more.  If you keep all the letter perpendicular to the path you are creating, they will all look perfect.  

Have a great day! - Davinie

Back to School Framed Layout :: Jaime Warren

Hey Everyone! Jaime Warren here with a very simple Back To School project for you!

This is our first year homeschooling and I wanted to have something fun up on one of the walls in our classroom. So, I decided to create this cute little framed layout. It's super simple - just like I like it! To get started you will need:

• Photo Frame
• Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint
• Heidi Swapp Edge Distressor
• Photo Stickers (or adhesive of your choice)
• School Spirit Paper Collection
• School Spirit Border Stickers
• School Spirit Stickers
• Alphabet Stickers (I chose Jenni Bowlin & Sassafras)
• 3 Photos
• Sewing Machine
• Foam Pop Dots

 

The first thing you will need to do for this project is to paint your frame with your base color (I chose white). Once that is dry, paint it again, this time using the Crackle Paint. Then, let it dry. As it dries, the cracks will appear giving it a wonderful aged and weathered look!

 

As I mentioned in a previous tutorial, I'm inept when it comes to measuring. Instead, I like to use things as templates and score my paper. That is just what I did with this project! I used the backing to the frame as my template - I simply scored the paper and cut it. Easy peasy!

 

I picked out another sheet from the School Spirit line and then layered it on top of my first sheet. I used the Heidi Swapp Edge Distresser to distress the edges of the paper. After attaching the second sheet I added some stitching along the edges. 

 

Now it's time for the third layer of paper! For this one I tore the bottom to give it some extra texture and to let more of my second layer peek through. 

 

I cut out 3" "report cards" from Crate Paper's "Grade Card" pattern paper and combined them with my photos. I chose to include three photos on my layout - one of each of my girls. I partially attached them to my paper and then tucked beneath them report cards at alternating angles. It gives the layout yet another layer.

 

Now it's time to start adding some embellishments! I trimmed the cute little school house and bus combination from Crate Paper's "Study Hall" pattern paper and attached it to the left of my photos using foam pop dots.

 

I love all of the fun stickers that Crate created for this line, so I knew I had to use them on this project! For starters I stuck the fun Pencil Border Sticker behind the photos. Then I placed four of the Subject Stickers in the upper right corner of the layout. 

 

Now, when I start creating I never have a set plan. I just go with the flow, no matter where it might take me. For this particular project, I felt like the right side needed something more to help balance it out. So, I used a star template I had created for another layout and made yet another layer for this layout! I simply placed it on my paper and traced it, then cut the shape out. I tucked it behind my photos, letting half of it hang out.

 

Now for the title! I used Jenni Bowlin and Sassafras alphabet stickers - I just placed them to the right of my photos, at the bottom. 

 

Once your frame is completely dry, place the glass, layout and frame backing in the frame and viola! A very simple, but cute framed layout! My girls love having it in their school room!

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial! It would make a great back to school surprise for any child!

Flower Embellishments from Scraps :: Amy Heller

Hi everyone! It's Amy Heller here today and I'm really excited about the tutorial I'm bringing to you today!

Some of you may know, I'm both a scrapper and card maker. I love coming up with handmade embellishments that I can use both for my cards and for my layouts. One of my absolute favorite things to do is come up with new ways of using my various sized scraps that I'm constantly creating. I rarely toss my scraps - I try to use them until they're literally confetti sized. :) Hopefully this tutorial will give you another idea of how to maximize your paper and create something fun and unique for any of your paper crafting projects. Let's get started!

 

What you need:

• A pile of patterned paper scraps
• Paper Trimmer
• 2" Circle Punch and/or 1.5" Circle Punch
• Scrap Piece of Cardstock at least 3" x 3" 
• Removable Double Sided Tape
• Stapler
• Scissors

-------------

• Various other embellishments as desired

 

The first thing I do when I'm looking to create a project from scraps, is I get organized by separating my scraps into sizes. Because we are creating long strips, I have organized my large pieces, medium pieces and long strips. 

 

Now an extra benefit of this project is that it's the IDEAL project for using that extra bit of patterned paper that is at the bottom of each A-side piece of paper (shown above). The B-side (shown below) has all the paper information. 

 

The B-side (shown above) has all the paper information. This slice of patterned paper is the exact same width that we are going to cut all of our paper for this project; 1/4" wide. Never again will you need to toss this little slice of paper that makes your layouts 12.25" tall! I love that!

 

Now we're going to start trimming. I started with my long strips of scraps, then moved to my medium scraps and then lastly, my large pieces of paper. Trim each scrap as close to 1/4" wide as possible. Don't worry about the length at this point, we'll take care of that later. 

 

This what you end up with. A pile of scraps that will soon turn into something really fun!! 

 

Now it's time to get things ready and organized. There's a couple ways I found it best to organize these strips in preparation for assembling the flowers. You can separate them by color (shown above)...

 

or by matching paper/sheet. This is really helpful if your layout or card uses a particular line/manufacturers papers, like Crate Paper's Restoration collection, like I have used :)

 

Next step is to choose between 10-15 strips that you'd like to use in your flower. Line up one end of your strips on a straight edge like the grid shown on my work surface. The various sizes of ends will be obvious on the other side of the strips - that's ok.

 

Holding down your strips, trim the strips at about 3" long. Set the finished strips aside.

Large Flower = 3" strips and 2" circle punch - Finished size 2.5"
Medium Flower = 2.5" strips and 1.5" circle punch - Finished size 2"
Small Flower = 2" strips and 1.5" circle punch - Finished size 1.5"

 

Taking your scrap cardstock and circle punch...punch out a circle. Note: it doesn't have to be perfect. This is just your guide and will not be a part of your finished flower. 

 

Now cover your circle directly on your workspace with your removable doublestick tape. Do this liberally on all sides of your circle so that you pieces have ample sticky surface to hold them in place.

 

Bring your strips back into your workspace. Find the center point of your circle - you can mark it if you need to initially. Take one of your strips, and finding the center point of the strip, lay it diagonally across the circle, then do the same with a second strip.

The goal with each additional strip is to create an X within each open space until there are no more open spaces left...eventually getting to this:

Gently remove the tape, circle cardstock and flower from your workspace and hold it firmly between your fingers. If a strip slips, you can gently adjust it while the rest of the strips are still firmly in between your fingers. 

 

Then, using an office or craft stapler, staple the center of the flower. You may need to staple both sides to create a firm grip. 

 

Now is the really fun part! Get out that same circle cardstock, and use it as a guide to trim your flower so that all the strips are uniform in size around the center. 

Or you can just eye it as well. Now your flower is finished! It's time to finish the embellishing as desired!

 

For these two, I used felt and paper flowers and then finished off the look with the epoxy/metal brads from Crate Paper's Restoration collection.

 

There are so many options for these cute little flowers. You can finish them with chipboard, you can spritz them with mist, add button centers, stitch around the perimeter, ink and distress, the list goes on and on!  And I can't wait to try them all! Just to show you, from my initial pile of scraps shown at the beginning of the tutorial, I was able to create ten 3" flowers, two 2" flowers and two 1.5" flowers!! I made multicolored flowers - red, yellow, blue, green, cool and warm valued flowers.

And here's how I applied my newly created flowers!

The Sketch Challenge--September Edition

It's the third Friday of the month and I have a brand new sketch for you! Last month's sketch challenge was delightful, we got lots of fun versions of the sketch, so I'm really looking forward to what you do with today's inspiration. Here are the rules again:

• You have until midnight (MST) Saturday the 24th to work on the sketch. That's one week.
• Projects must use at 50% Crate Paper products, new releases are not required.
• Sketch can be a layout, cards, tags, or other project.
• Scan/Photograph your project and send it to [email protected]
• Winner will be selected based on quality or invention of work and I'll announce them and share some other entries on Monday the 27th.

Here's the sketch for you, I've clustered a number of different elements together, title and journaling spots are up to you.

Here's my version, I stuck pretty close to the sketch, making only minor changes in the size of the base, from 12x12 to 8.5x11, and flipping the left side rectangular element with the three little bits. I added my journaling to the top right of the cluster, even though there was nothing there in the sketch. Be flexible when you are using a sketch, I followed the basic idea, but made it my own. I mostly pulled my elements from the Restoration line, but added the red from School Spirit, pearls from Kaisercraft, and mist from Studio Calico.

Larissa played along this month too, and I'm so glad! Her bright happy use of the Snow Days line perfectly shows off her B&W photo. She flipped a lot of the elements, either upside down or sideways. She highlights just how easy it is to take a sketch and use the parts that work best for your own work.

And our final example is from Ania Jo, she used the School Spirit line and made a birthday card. Isn't it fun to see the same sketch in a much smaller version? I love how she worked with the star theme for this project, it's definitely a card I'd be happy getting for MY birthday too.

So off you go, work your magic! I'm anxious to see what you come up with. I almost forgot! The winner will be able to choose a Collection pack of either School Spirit or Snow Days.